Back on Solid Ground (10 page)

“It’s really
good,” she agreed.  “Where in the world did you find Consuela?”

“On the
mainland,” Jason said, without thinking.

“And that
would be . . .” Stacy prodded.

Jason stopped
chewing and looked at her.  He looked over at Niki, then back to Stacy.  “Don’t
ask me shit like that,” he said, irritated.

Carlos
changed the subject.  “My friends tell me you’re a bit of a sharpshooter,” he
said.

She looked at
Eli and tried not to laugh.  “Did you tell them I saved your life?” she asked,
then she turned to Carlos, “He thought I was going to shoot him.”

“Where
did
you learn to shoot like that?” Eli asked.   “And don’t say you’re from Texas,” he added before she could answer.

“At the
ranch.  My girlfriend has a whole arsenal of weapons and we go out there and
shoot the horns off the cattle,” she said, taking a bite.

All four
stopped eating and looked at her like she was nuts.

“I’m
kidding!  Good grief,” she laughed.  “We shoot at cans and stuff, okay?”

Niki and Eli
laughed, and Carlos and Jason shook their head. 

“So you
became a sharpshooter by shooting at cans?” Carlos asked.

Stacy thought
about it before she answered.  “Personally, I think it’s a skill you’re born
with,” Stacy said.  “Sure, the more you practice, the better you get, but only
to a certain point.  Like the child prodigy who can play an entire concert on
the piano when he’s four years old.   The average person can practice from sun
up to sun down, and he’s never going to be as good as the kid who’s born to
it.”   

The men were
captivated.  They had all stopped eating and each was staring at her, hanging
on her every word.  Stacy stopped speaking and looked around the table.

“What?” she
said defensively.  “Do I have a bug on my face or something?”

Niki laughed
and turned back to his food.  “You may be right,” he said.  “Eli’s been
shooting a gun since he was seven years old and his aim is still terrible.   He
probably
was
the one who shot you.” 

The group got
busy eating and no one spoke for a while. 

Niki was
thinking about the bomb.  Nothing like that had ever happened to them before
and he was worried that whoever had done it might still be on the island.  He
didn’t know if it had anything to do with Stacy or not, but he couldn’t rule it
out.  He was worried for everyone’s safety, so he decided to address the matter
while they were all together.

“About the
bomb on the boat,” he started.  Everyone stopped eating and looked at Niki. 
“Obviously we have a major security issue here, as of course, you three know,”
he said to the men.  “We don’t know who planted that bomb,” he continued, “and
Stacy, I feel like I need to warn you especially, that you may be in danger
from whoever put that bomb in our boat.”

“And what, I
wasn’t in danger before?” she said, in disbelief.

“Well no, not
directly,” Niki said.

“And now, I
may be in
direct
danger?” she clarified.

“My point
is,” Niki said, getting frustrated, “You’ve made it clear that you will try to
escape again, and I don’t know how to convince you of this, but right now, you
would be safer with
us
than with whoever planted that bomb.”

“I watched
you people blow that guy’s hand off in the bank,” she said.  “And you’re
sitting here telling me that the person who planted that bomb is dangerous and
you’re not?  I’ll take my chances,” she said, intentionally being belligerent.

“That man was
shooting at us, and we spared him his life!  He could be entertaining his
family on the piano right now if he hadn’t tried to be a hero,” Niki said
angrily.  “No one would have been shot, including
you,
if he had done as
he was told!”

She’d hit a
nerve with that one.  “Well, if I’m in so much danger, then let me carry a
gun,” she said.  “I noticed all of you are.”

All heads
turned. 
She doesn’t miss a trick,
thought Eli.

“I don’t
think so,” Niki laughed.

“Hey, I had
the chance to shoot every one of you down there on the beach,” she informed
him.  “If I’m really in that much danger, I should be allowed to protect
myself.”

“I’ll protect
you,” Eli piped in.  “I owe you one anyway.”

“You owe me
two,” she corrected.

“Listen,”
Niki said, making a last attempt to get through to her, “I’m just trying to
keep you from getting hurt any more that you already have been.” 

He sounded
weary and she had a ridiculous urge to protect him.  “Okay, Niki,” Stacy
conceded.  She put her hand on his arm, “You don’t have to worry about me,” she
assured him. 

“Fine,” he
said.

It was the
first time she had called him by name, and coupled with the touch of her hand,
Niki’s stomach did a flip.  He got up from the table and took his plate, still
half-full, to the sink and walked out of the kitchen.  Jason looked over at
Carlos, and Carlos raised his eyebrows.  Stacy sat back in her chair.

“That was so
good,” Stacy said, rubbing her stomach.

“You want
some more?” asked Jason.

“Maybe just a
little,” she said, getting up.

“Where do you
put all that food?” Eli asked, in amazement.  “You’ve eaten as much as I have,
and you’re half my size.”

“I have a big
appetite,” she said defensively, spooning more food onto her plate, then
sitting back down.  She finished her second helping and groaned.  “I feel like
I’m gonna pop,” she said.

“I don’t
doubt it,” said Eli.

“It was just
so good that I wanted to keep eating,” she said, unbuttoning the top button on
her shorts. 

“I’ll walk
you upstairs,” Jason said.

Jason went
into the suite across from Stacy’s and dragged an easy chair and ottoman out
into the hall and took up camp. 

“You’re going
to sit there the whole time I sleep?” Stacy said.

“Yep.  I’ll
be here,” he said, snuggling into the chair.

Eli and
Carlos were just finishing up in the kitchen. 

“I’m going to
the boathouse to look around,” said Carlos, stretching as he got up from the
table. 

“Do you want
me to go with you?” Eli asked.

“No.  It’s
better if I go by myself.” 

Eli knew that
Carlos was looking for more than physical evidence.  Carlos’ psychic abilities
never ceased to amaze them.  He knew that Carlos preferred to conduct his
investigations in private, so he didn’t push. 

“I think I’ll
go find Niki,” said Eli.  “The girl is freaking him out,” he said amused. 

“So I’ve
noticed,” agreed Carlos.   “There’s something between them.”

“Come find us
when you get back.  And be careful,” Eli added, as Carlos was walking out the
door.

Eli grabbed a
beer out of the refrigerator and left the kitchen in search of Niki.  He found
him punishing himself on the treadmill in the exercise room. 

“Slow down
before you have a heart attack,” Eli told his brother.

Niki slowed
the machine down a couple of notches.  “Five more minutes,” he said, breathing
hard. 

Eli sat on
the weight bench drinking his beer while Niki finished.  His brother was
definitely stressed.  The only time he ran like that was when something was
really bothering him. 

Niki was
ringing wet when he finished.  He grabbed his towel and dried off his face and
hair, then draped the towel around his neck.  He sat down on the weight bench
opposite Eli.

“What’s up,
Niki?” Eli asked.

“Stacy
Trent,” Niki said, like the words tasted bad.

Eli laughed. 
“What does that mean?”

“I don’t
know,” Niki said, shaking his head.  “For some reason, she’s really getting to me. 
Half the time I want to kill her, and the other half . . .” he let the sentence
hang.

“You’re in a
bad way,” Eli said.  He had never seen his brother so tormented over a woman. 

“Why do I
feel like I need to protect her?” Niki asked in frustration.   “She’s been
nothing but a pain in the ass, but there’s just something about her.  I don’t
know,” he hesitated, “she fascinates me.”

“Maybe Carlos
put a spell on you,” Eli said, trying to lighten the mood.  “You know, because
of the eye thing.”

Niki didn’t
think it was funny.

“Either that
or you’re in love with her,” said Eli.

“That’s
ridiculous Eli,” Niki said, irritated.  “I don’t even
know
her.”

“Look, Niki.
Stacy is a very attractive, capable and resourceful woman.  We’re all
fascinated by her.  Just don’t let her get to you,” Eli said, standing up.

Niki looked
up at his brother.  “We should never have taken this job.”

Eli put a
heavy hand on Niki’s shoulder as he headed toward the door.  “It’s too late
now.”

Niki got up
and followed him.  “I’m going to shower and then we need to take that drive.”

“Jason’s
upstairs on Stacy duty.  Why don’t we have Consuela sit up there so Jason can
check this place out,” Eli suggested.  “It’s not something that should wait.”

“That’s a
good idea.  Give her one of the walkie talkies and she can call us if Stacy
tries anything,” Niki said.

“Okay,” said
Eli.  “I’ll be upstairs.  Come get me when you’re ready.”

Eli worked
things out with Consuela then went to his living quarters.  He was heading to
his bedroom when he noticed that his computer was still on from earlier, and he
flashed back to Stacy standing by the couch with Jason’s gun in her hand. Eli
smiled. The girl was a piece of work.  Eli walked over to turn off the computer
and noticed there was an error message on the screen.  The e-mail to hollylane
was returned undelivered. 

Jason was
sitting outside Stacy’s room when he thought he heard voices coming from 
inside.  He knocked on the door, and when she didn’t answer, he opened the door
and went in. 

“No, stop!” Stacy
said, tossing her head back and forth. 

At first,
Jason thought she was talking to him, but as he approached the bed he realized
that Stacy was asleep.  She had tears on her cheeks and the sheets were torn
off the bed and knotted up into a ball from her struggling.

“No,” she
whimpered. 

Jason sat
down on the side of her bed.  He leaned over and put his hand on her forehead
and smoothed her hair back.  “Shhhh,” he said.  “It’s okay.  It’s just a
dream.”   He stroked her hair and talked her through the nightmare until she
was sleeping peacefully.  He was straightening the crumpled sheets when Niki
and Consuela poked their heads in.

Jason held
his finger up to his lips before Niki could speak.  “Shhh.” He finished tucking
in the sheets and met them out in the hall.

“She was
having a nightmare,” Jason said. “What’s up?” he said, looking at Consuela.

“Consuela’s
going to keep an eye on Stacy so you can check out the villa,” Niki said. 

“Good.  It
sucks sitting out here.  I need something to drink.”

“Eli and I
are going to check the perimeter before it gets dark.”

“Where’s
Carlos?” Jason asked.

“Still at the
boathouse.”

Jason looked
toward Stacy’s door.  “I wouldn’t be surprised if she sleeps right through the
night.  She’s really crashed.”

Consuela took
up residence in the easy chair and Jason and Niki walked down to Eli’s room.   
Niki knocked and walked in. 

“You ready?”
Niki asked.

“Yeah,” Eli
said.  The three headed downstairs.   “You know, I told you that Stacy sent an
e-mail to two people earlier,” said Eli.

“Yeah,” said
Niki.

“Well one
came back undelivered; the one to hollylane,” said Eli.

The threesome
split up at the bottom of the stairs, Niki and Eli heading outside through the
foyer and Jason taking the stairs to the lower level.

“You drive,” Niki
said, tossing Eli the keys. 

Niki and Eli
got in the Land Rover and rolled down the windows. It was about a half-mile
from the villa to the perimeter road on the path they were driving, but it was
slow going because of all of the curves.

“Go west at
the perimeter road and we’ll check the cliffs first,” Niki directed.  The
cliffs presented the most rugged form of access to the island, and for that
reason, there was no security equipment.  Niki didn’t think that anyone would
be there, but he had to rule it out.

They got to
the cliffs and Eli drove a bit farther then stopped the Rover and they both got
out.  They took off in opposite directions and scouted the cliffs for any sign
of life, then met back at the Land Rover. 

“There’s no
one out there,” Niki said, satisfied that the cliffs were safe. 

They
continued along the perimeter road, driving slowly, keeping an eye out for
anything or anyone that didn’t belong.  They came to the south end of the
island, which was one tip of the crescent, and got out again.  At each tip of
the crescent there were cameras set up which could be monitored from the
villa.  They had been in place when Niki acquired the island, but up to then,
it had never been necessary to monitor them.  Sections of the island also came
equipped with an invisible security fence, which transmitted signals back to
the villa where a breach had occurred.  The fencing was placed strategically on
areas of the island that were considered vulnerable to access. 

The camera
was perched on top of a solid steel pole and there was a control box attached
near the bottom of the pole.  Niki unlocked the control box to make sure
everything was turned on.

“Everything’s
good here,” Niki said.  “Hopefully the recording will show something.”

He and Eli
walked around the area, searching for anything that might provide a clue, but
there was nothing.  They returned to the Land Rover and combed the rest of the
island. By the time they got back to the villa it was dark.